1/2 Frans plays his own grandfather in film ‘Burgemeestersmoord’
On August 14, 1944, the mayors of Asten and Someren, together with Frans Eijsbouts, were arrested by a murder command. Both mayors are executed on the Kanaaldijk in Someren-Eind for their role in Dutch resistance. Frans Eijsbouts from Someren survives the attack in a miraculous way. Eighty years later, Frans Verberne plays the story of his grandfather Frans Eijsbouts in the film ‘Burgemeestersmoord’. The film can be seen on Wednesday evening on Omroep Brabant and on Brabant+.
“My grandfather had a textile shop during the war and was familiar with the mayors of Someren and Asten,” says Frans Verberne for the town hall of Asten. “It was not actually intended that he was arrested. He was the fourth on a list of a retaliation of the Germans. There was a murder on two land guards.”
The Landwacht was a kind of military police unit founded by the occupier. It was Dutch people who worked with the occupier and that is why they were hated. They were often the target of the resistance, such as in August 1944 in Gemert.
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Shortly thereafter the Germans took revenge. They wanted to set an example by having a few prominent villagers killed. They came to Eijsbouts when the third on the list, Dr. Jacobs, turned out not to be at home. Frans is the only one to survive the attack.
Feature film
The municipality of Asten was an important decor in the film. Various sets have been built in the town hall, which looks just like in 1944. The film was made with a hard core of fifty people. In total, more than four hundred people participated in the film. Everyone did that as a volunteer. The financing is mainly provided by the municipalities and large companies. “In the long run you notice that a team is created, you get time to grow in your role and I am extremely proud of the result,” says Frans Glimlaching.
The film premiered in autumn 2024 and was an unprecedented success. Tens of thousands of tickets were sold. “It lives very much in the village, you notice that. Everyone is talking about it. People are curious how the shooting days went. And the mayors were of course loved in the village.”
But the most important thing was perhaps that Frans could invite his family. “His children of course still live. They were very proud of the result and they thought it was special to see the story of their father on the big canvas.”
The film ‘Burgemeestersmoord’ can be seen on Wednesday evening from 8:46 pm at Omroep Brabant. That is after the direct broadcast of the annual commemoration of the Brabant fallen in Waalre. That memorial broadcast starts at 6.53 pm. The film can also be viewed on Brabant+.
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Revenge on innocent
In the Second World War, many innocent people fell victim to the brutal action of the occupier. The Germans often took revenge on random ‘enemies’ as a warning to others.
Numerous people were arrested, hostage, shot or ported by concentration camps without a form of process. That also happened to a group of Brabant mayors. For example, they refused to implement measures from the occupier and were therefore murdered.
In 2020 a monument was unveiled for those mayors in Den Bosch.
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